Page 5 of Risk

Kaden’s stunning brown eyes turn my way as I approach, and I feel his look cover me, like it’s the dress I’m wearing. I have to hold back a shiver. Maybe Ari is onto something, saying that he likes me. Or maybe I’m just projecting.

“Hey.” I smile at my brother and Kaden when I reach them. “Having fun?” I ask them both.

Having fun. For fuck’s sake, Kincaid, you couldn’t come up with a better opener than that? All that money spent on a good education, and that’s the best you’ve got?

A small smile lifts Kaden’s lips.

“It’s been a good day,” Zeus says. “Ares looks happy.”

I follow his eyes to where Ares and Ari are dancing together on the floor. “Yeah, he does.” I smile. “He deserves to be happy.”

“We all do.”

I look at Zeus, and then my eyes involuntarily flicker to where my dad, Brett Kincaid is sitting with Ari’s dad—Eddie Petrelli, who is also Ares’s head coach—then back to Zeus. I know Zeus is referring to our dad, who turned to alcohol when our mom died from cancer instead of caring for the kids who so desperately needed him. It was Zeus and Ares who raised me and my twin brother, Lo. Even though our dad is now sober and trying to make amends, Zeus harbors a lot of resentment toward him, and I understand why.

“We all are happy.”

“Damn fucking right we are.” Of course he’s looking at his wife, Cam, and their two girls.

Gigi and Thea are on the dance floor with Cam’s mom, who is actually her aunt, but she raised Cam from a young age after her sister—Cam’s mom—died of a drug overdose.

I guess we’ve all had a tough time in our lives. Including the man next to me.

Kaden was a world champion boxer, like Zeus, and during a title fight with Zeus, he suffered from a brain aneurysmthat nearly took his life. He was in a coma and spent a long time in the hospital, recovering and doing rehabilitation. In the course of the brain bleed, he suffered a stroke, which gave him paralysis down his right side. The doctors weren’t sure if it was temporary or permanent. Thankfully, it was temporary, but he had months and months of rehabilitation to go through, and he did it all without a single complaint or feeling sorry for himself. He worked hard to get himself back to health, and honestly, looking at him, you wouldn’t think he’d gone through what he had. Except for the headaches that I know he suffers from.

Kaden is the true definition of a fighter.

Even though he and my brother were opponents in the beginning and it was Zeus who laid the hits on him that caused the brain bleed, they are now best friends. Zeus was there every step of the way—through his recovery and rehab—and even paid for his hospital bills, which I know Kaden wasn’t happy about. He’s a proud man.

Kaden hired a lawyer and sued the International Boxing Federation because the fight should have been stopped earlier and wasn’t, and it came to light that the referee had been paid off by my brother’s ex-manager—which Zeus knew nothing about—to not stop the fight, no matter what. When he received compensation from them, he insisted on paying Zeus back every penny he’d spent on his medical bills, even though Zeus didn’t want it.

I’m pretty sure the money ended up in a trust for Gigi and Thea for when they’re older.

“I’m gonna go dance with my girls,” Zeus tells us.

He gives Kaden a pat on his shoulder before heading toward the dance floor. Leaving me alone with Kaden. Well, not actually alone. We are in a large reception room, surrounded by my family and friends.

And it’s not like this is the first time I’ve just been with Kaden “alone” and had a conversation.

So, why the hell can’t I think of anything to say, and why is my mouth as dry as the frigging Sahara?

“Drink?”

The sound of Kaden’s deep, husky voice pulls my eyes to his, and I feel that tug in my belly that I always do around him.

“Champagne,” I tell him.

There’s a whole tray of them sitting on the bar, so Kaden reaches over and gets me one.

The tips of his fingers touch mine as I take the glass from him, and I get shivers up my arm. This is ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong; I usuallyfeelthings around Kaden—I’ve had a damn crush on the man for years. But Ari getting in my ear about it tonight, making me think things—like he might want me, too—has my nerves heightened and my body going into overdrive.

To cover my feelings, I take a drink of the champagne, letting the bubbles fizz on my tongue.

As I lower my glass, holding it close to my chest, I notice the drink that Kaden’s lifting to his lips. A beer.

“You’re drinking tonight?” I ask him, leaning my back against the bar, mirroring Kaden.

He rarely drinks. He once told me that it’s because of the migraines. He mostly avoids things that can trigger headaches, like alcohol and caffeine.

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